The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
7/11: Finding the Right Path with God
ONEIDA, N.Y. >> For H. Russell Eastman, every day is a blessing from God.
In his new memoir, “7/11: Finding the Right Path with God,” Eastman, 88, highlights his life experiences and the “greater power” that has guided his life over the years.
“I can say that I’ve had so many life experiences that I can’t explain,” Eastman said.
Eastman grew up in Central New York on the family farm in Waterville. His uncle was a lay pastor, and he recalls spending every Sunday at church with his siblings. When he turned 20, he married his wife Peg; they will celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary in October. The couple has four children.
Throughout the years, Eastman has had a bevy of jobs, from farmhand to tree climber to engineer and even Sunday school teacher, he said. Working with trees was a “line of work I really loved,” he said, despite the dangers. In the heyday of his tree climbing career, there were no bucket trucks, he explained, and so all work was done by hand.
Eventually, he founded Oneida Tree Service. The biggest job his company ever took on was cutting down 600 elms in Oneida Castle that were infected with Dutch elm disease.
Following his time as a tree climber, Eastman took a job with Niagara Mohawk, dur
ing which time he began electrical planning. He was in his 40s at the time, and for many he was considered too old to learn a new trade. But he took the knowledge he’d accumulated from years on the farm and working with trees and applied it to his engineering job, excelling where others felt he couldn’t.
That can-do attitude extended even after retirement and an assortment of health issues, including Parkinson’s, prostate cancer, a mini stroke and macular degeneration. His passion for working with wood lead him to making a dresser for a relative, which then lead him to competing at the New York State Fair in woodworking. He’s created handmade wooden toys for Toys for Tots and Share a Caring Christmas, and donates wood to Oneida High School to help students learning carpentry.
“Many life situations for me have taken place that I am certain were done by Divine guidance,” Eastman writes in his book. “Many things were too numerous to be by chance alone.”
When it came to writing down his memoirs, Eastman credits the Holy Spirit as being his divine inspiration. In a dream, he dropped a handful of notes, and when he went to pick them up he heard a voice: “Russell, we have a lot of work to do.” That was more than three years ago.
“I feel so fantastic,” Eastman said of his accomplishments.
“7/11: Finding the Right Path with God,” is available online at amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Apple iTunes, and locally at the Oneida Commons. Eastman is also the author of “From Good Luck Farm.”